Fiberglass tape forum

[Joe Sundstrom]

I have searched and searched for fiberglass tape, especially biaxial, and i do not believe i have scratched the surface of available types, weights, etc., and their best uses for stitch and glue boatbuilding.

It is interesting that Devlin likes to cut tape from fiberglass cloth, but that sounds like a lot of work. Probably saves him a ton of money (he doesn't like the work that selvaged edges require, either).

I would appreciate information from the experienced ones among us, as well as retail suppliers.

I am building an 8 foot sailing pram, then graduating to a B&B Yacht Designs Princess Sharpie 22. :shock:

Joe

[capt jake]

We have a supplier in Tacoma who sells Biax and other cloth. They are installing a machine to cut your desired width of cloth, in other words 'tape'.

Plain old tooling cloth cut as tape is a PIMA, IMHO. Biax is bound together so it wouldn't be as much of a pain.

[boatbuilder.org]

At Devlin we use a lot of biax and buy it by the roll and do have it sliced into 4", 6" and 8" widths. The 6 oz tooling we cut off the roll and really does not take much time to do. We also use widths from 4" to 12" so it saves trying to keep all those sizes (2" increments) is stock. The "selvaged edge" debate : if only used one layer then I would use it, but 98% of the time we use multiple layers and I find the selvaged edge will leave small air pockets along the edge where the second layer is laid over it. I guess if you stacked the tape it would be all right, but I always stagger the layers by an inch or so. As far as saving money, Sam would order what ever I want to use, personally I just don't like using it.

---Joel---

[Ken_Potts]

Now that I've read Ray's comment my method for taping seams will probably change. What I've done until now is cut the selvedges off the tape before applying it. Since I work so slowly it doesn't really seem to be that much extra effort. I don't think it would be any harder to cut bias tape from cloth. Especially if you use a rotary cutter.

Somebody once showed me how to cut a continuous length of bias tape out of a piece of fabric that had been sewn into a mobius loop. We started with a piece of fabric that was, say, 2 feet by 2 feet and ended up with a strip that was 1 inch by 48 feet. It did require sewing a seam in the original cloth, though.

(wait - is bias-cut the same as biaxial? If not, please disregard my ramblings)

[Greg Luckett]

At Devlin ......

---Joel---

I did not know anyone from Devlin was involved with messing-about.com. I am not surprised, just did not know. I like this .

I have Devlin's book and one of his boat building tapes too.

[Barry Pyeatt]

Yes, biaxial is entirely different than bias. If you were to coat plywood or any wood with biaxial cloth you would spend a long time finishing it on its own. So it is most commonly laid up for strength and then covered with a smooth glass cloth for finish.

Joel is a most welcome addition to the forum as he has been with Devlin for some time and is extremely well versed on how they build from Sam's design work.

[Joe Sundstrom]

I, and i am sure others, need to know what weights and widths of biaxial fiberglass tape are available commercially and who retails all of these different weights and widths for the amateur?

I have some 15.5 oz tape from Jamestown Distributors, and it is far too heavy for my application

Joe

[Howard]

RAKA has it and you can purchase the epoxy from the same place. What a deal!

http://www.raka.com/FiberglassTape.html

[Barry Pyeatt]

I've had great experience(s) with the following company(s) here in the Pacific Northwest..

http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/Product_Catalog/Reinforcements/reinforcements.html

http://www.fiberlay.com/?-=

A phone call to either of them with some questions about your needs will bring you good information and a wealth of experience to back it up.

Raka is also good on the Eastern Seaboard and very helpful.